The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-11-04
ODD THINGS IN JAPAN.
Catching Fish with Cormorants and
Bathing Oftener than ANY Other

Catching Fish with Cormorants and
Bathing Oftener than Any Other
People.
| DR.. Parthurst in the Indianapolis Journal.
Fish form a great food staple, and are
taken in many ways. One day soon after I
arrived | saw a man standing on a log in
the river. He had a small dip net in his
hand. On the end of the log was a cormo-
rant with ring about its neck. Presently
the bird dived in the water and came to the
| log with fish in its mouth. The man put
his net over the birds head, and by twist
took the fish in his net, from which he trans
ferred it to his pouch. The ring was put
about the birds neck when it was young,
and its head had grown so that it could not
get it off. If it had not been for the ring
the bird would have swallowed the fish
| They sell their fish alive. They have buck
cts like the end of a barrel, about two inches
deep, in which they put some water and
carry the fish about in them.
| Everything they do seems the reverse of
our customs. They saw toward themselves
and planet oward themselves. The men sew,
and in sewing push the needle from them
| They stand their horses in the stalls with
| their heads out. | asked a man why they
did not turn them the other way, and he
| said the horse would get more fresh air with
his head that way, and besides, man was
usually not in hurry when he put his
horse up, but he might be when he took him
out, and not have time to back him out and
the other side of the earth and have their
heads down all the time, it comes natural
for them to do opposite to us.
They are very kindly, pleasant, affable
people They are very Clearly. | think
! they battle oftener than any other people on
earth. The common vehicle of the country
is two-wheeled cart pulled by coolies.
| These men go quite rapidly. One of them
pulled me forty miles in one day, to the
top of a mountain range, making an ascent
of 5000 feet They do not wear the shoes
in the house that they wear out of doors,
hence their houses are marvellously clean.
They tend their gardens very carefully, and
trim their evergreens in fantastic shapes.
| If you look in garden at night it appears
| full of elephants and other animals. The
women put their hair up in fanciful shapes
, butterflies, fans and other objects being
| initiated. 1t is is dressed with a sort of
| gluten, and becomes hard when dry. 1t
will retain its shape for month after dress
ing. They have no bonnets BY the way,
do you know that two-thirds of the women
on the earth never saw bonnet, and they
would not know what to do with them if
they did see them. The men wear no hats.
The japanese do not wear pigtails. They
shave their hair through the centre and
bring the sides to knot at the top.
The country is beautiful to see and de-
| lightful to travel through, but the people,
as to honor, purity and veracity are in a
| deplorable state. There is no such thing as
] business honor among them. No one be-
| lieves any one with whom he is dealing. 1t
was for many years the custom for any one
who wanted to get rid of girl to sell her
to a tea-house. Girls who had no one to
look after them were sold in the same way.
| These tea-houses are scattered all over the
country, like saloons. The tea is served by
girls exclusively, and these girls are also
| kept there for vile purposes. This is uni
versal If the girl who serves you is sent
from the room the keeper comes to ask if
she has been impudent or has done anything
out of the way Formerly, if girl ran
away from one of these houses, the police
brought her back and compelled her to stay,
| but by the force of foreign influence this
has been changed and now a girl may
abandon this life if she wishes to do So
The Japanese are very volatile and tickle
| in everything. One may give 81, 500 for a
fancy pig to-day, and one year from now
he would not accept it as present. They
are the French of Asia; the Chinese are the
Germans. Converts to Christianity are
made much more easily among the Japan
csc than among the Chinese, but you never
can tell how long they will remain Chris
tians. The Chinese understand the per-
severance of the saints and practice 1t.